The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1887-10-13

MR.. BIsSELL. MRS. CLEVELAND.
Bissell is fully six feet tall. He is the heavy
man of the crowd, and he would weigh, 1
judge $50 pounds. He has big head on
big shoulders, and is full of life and jollity
The two newspaper men who accompanied
the presidential party are among the oldest
of the Washington correspondents Mr..
Bicllforl has been for years with the Asso-
ciated Press and lie is the CORRESPONDENT who
has charge Of its news in the United States
senate. BcRford is tall, thin and refined
looking. He has gray hair and mustache,
and lie is a man of considerable culture and
an able writer The other newspaper man is
Mr.. z. Y. De Graw, who is the manager of the
United Press at Washington
see that William T. Crump, vl.o was Gar
fields steward, is very sick in one of the little
villages near Washington. Crump ruined
his health in taking caSc of Garfield. and tho
government cut down his bill for extra ser
vices rendered from SO 900 to $500 He told
me today that lie was beside Garfield day and
night during his last Illness ant. that he hurt
his back III hitting, the president. lie had to
lay off work On account of his i'll health, and
since then be has had 10 wear a wide band
around his abdomen and has not been able to
bend over and pick ur anything. His shoes
have to be put on for him, and his nervous
system is such that the least excitement
brings on a fit of sickness. He received
81 ,s00 year as steward and he served under
Hayes and Garfield. He told me once ho did
not like Arthur because he sat at the table
till II and O'Clock of night, and it tool, the
servants till daylight to get tho dishes
washed During Gariiold's administration
he kept notes of Ill the prominent
people who came to the White HOUSE, and
he has tic bills Of fare of every dinner which
occurred during, his administration. doubt
not he is sorry he ever entered the White
House, Few Of the men connected with Gar
fields sickness made anything out Of it. Dr.
Bliss estimates that his attendance cost him
from $50, 600 to $4,000 He had practice
at the time which was second to none in
Washington ami II income must have been
twice that of supreme judge. Gartieds
illness took the Y hole of his time, and at its
close he was 50 worn down that lie looked
like ghost and he had to take q vacation to
recover his health. He estimated his ser
vices to Garfield very low when he put them
at $4,000 but the auditing board cut him
down to $1,000, and he came back to find
that his patients were pretty well scattered
among tho other doctors. He has not been
in good health since Garfeld's illness and his
condition was SO bad last year that his life
was almost in danger. This year he is better
and his eyes are bright, though his hair is
gray.
dropped into the treasury yesterday and
looked at the work,ncn who arc engaged III
constructing tho new vault. The treasury
itself looks like 4 tomb. 1t has great sombcr
columns down each silc o. it, and the doors
Of its basement are SO cut that they look as
though they were dug out of Il solid rock.
Everything about it is massive, and it makes
mo think more of tho Bank of England than
any other building I have seem 1t is made
in tho shape of n hollow square, with wide
tiers of granite walls running around court
i'll tue center. 1t is in this court that the new
vault is being built. Thick walls of brick
and cement rise within, and the vault will be
above and not below ground. Its interior
will be cut ul into cells walled with iron lat
tice work, and the workmen are now rivctng
the iron bars composing it together. These
bars must be very strong, the weight Of
the silver which Is to be put Ill the vault will
be immense There was II portable furnace
blazing away within the vault today, and four
mel were carrying red hot rivets and stick
ing them through tho holes which had been
drilled in these iron bars They were then
mer while Il man held an iron mallet against
them at tho back Each of these latticework
walls requires $500 rivets, and it will take
moro than l00,0 900 of these rivets to fasten
the iron work of the vault together. Tho
vault is to contain 800, 900, 000 which is such
oil immense sum that few people can COM
prehend it. 1t will give some idea of it to
know that its weight will be $3.50 tons, or
tho weight of So, 800 men of 200 pounds each
Think of the heaviest man you know, and it
would take b, 600 such men to weigh as much
ns does this silver. 1t would taio l79 freight
cars to carry it, and it would take a train a
mile and quarter long to transport it. Its
weight would be so much that six locomotives
could hardly haul it, and if these dollars were
laid out SO that one just touched the other
they would make q line 2,305 miles long. If
they were put into floor. edgo to edge,
they would carpet ten times tho area of
tho Capitol or more than thirty acres, and if
they were piled one upon another they would
reach much moro than 500 times as high
os the Washington monument, making n
solid column of silver moro than III miles
high. A million dollars in silver is no small
quantity, and when you pack 500, 1000, 600
into vault it has to be rs strong as stonc
and iron can make it, To rob this vault will
be physical lmposslblllty. 10 tunnel into
it one would have to go under the
whole treasury building and he would
have TO drill through floor of cement and
chilled steel before he got to the coin. Tho
slightest noise would be sure to be heard and
the movement Of single bag with the i'm
mense weight above it would cause such
racket as to bring the guards down upon him
ins;anter. No attempt has, l think, ever
been made to rob the United States treasury
ind the safeguards about it are SO strong
that none but the craziest of men would
think Of trying it THOMAS ]. TODD